Creative Crisis? Performing Artists in Vienna’s Live Music Scene in the Age of COVID-19

Cultural workers are affected more than many other working populations by the pandemic COVID-19. Especially, live music as an antidote to crisis highlights the benefits of performing art in times of isolation; a practice that risks normalizing the idea that musicians are performing for free. This article discusses the intersection of live music with social and cultural issues, focusing on Vienna’s popular music scene. I begin my inquiry with an insight into the area of live music research, based on the works of Philip Auslander and Simon Frith. Throughout the text, I turn a critical eye to the broad impacts of the pandemic on music-making, the ways in which the potentials of emerging communities are leading to changed forms of appreciation, and emphasize the “sense of community” (Auslander) by way of three case studies. Ultimately, I aim to shed light on the strategies through which musicians deal with the crisis.